Biography

Melinda gained her BA from the University of Arizona (major in Anthropology, minor in Biology), followed by an MA in Anthropology (Archaeology) from the University of Hawai'i, Mānoa. Her doctoral research in the Cook Islands (Polynesia) investigated eight centuries of subsistence change and landscape dynamics on Aitutaki Island (University of Washington in 1992). She was a Research Anthropologist with Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu (Hawai'i) for five years before joining the University of Auckland's Department of Anthropology in 1996. She currently is a Professor of Anthropology at University of Auckland, Affiliate Graduate Faculty at University of Hawai'i, Mānoa, and Research Associate at Bernice P. Bishop Museum.

Research | Current

Melinda is an archaeologist with a focus on human palaeoecology, including human-climate relations, human ecodynamics, anthropogenic environments, and processes leading to social resilience. Her current research relates to long-term variation in traditional Polynesian marine fisheries; the diets and susbsistence economies of prehistoric Pacific Islanders and their commensal animals; and the timing and drivers of Polynesian colonisation processes.

Current Research

Dynamics of Polynesian Voyaging: Interaction, Agency and Climate Change at a Cook Islands Crossroad (PI). Using basalt tool geochemistry and climate-informed voyaging simulations, our team is exploring southern Cook Islands interactions with the broader Polynesian world in the 11th to 16th centuries AD

Development of 230Th/U Dating of Coral Artifacts (AI): High-precision 230Th/U dating is one of the most exciting archaeological dating advances of the last decade. This research is extending the technology to simple coralline tools that are commonly recovered from many Pacific island sites. With Prof. Warren Sharp and Prof. Patrick Kirch (PIs, University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. G. Molle (AI, ANU). Funded by U.S. National Science Foundation (Archeometry program).

New Zealand Fisheries through Time (AI): This 6-year collaboration with colleagues at University of Canterbury (Dr. Michael Plank), Motu Economic & Public Policy Research (Dr. Suzi Kerr), and University of Auckland (Prof. Thegn Ladefoged) is examining long-term resilience in North Island New Zealand fisheries at both artisanal and commercial scales, using a combination of contemporary and historical records (archaeological, ethno-historical) and mathematical and agent-based models. Funded through Te Pūnaha Matatini, Centre for Research Excellence: Complexity and the Biosphere Theme.

Human-climate Dynamics in Prehistoric Central Polynesia Using High-precision Marine Archives (PI): More than 100 cores from microatolls and storm cast corals on Aitutaki (Cook Islands) are providing new climate archives for comparison with archaeological records of changing marine fisheries. With Dr. Andrew Lorrey (NIWA) and A/P Michael Evans (University of Maryland). Funded by Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund.

Chronology of East Polynesian Colonisation & Settlement (PI): High-resolution radiocarbon chronologies are central to understanding processes of island colonisation and settlement. Through careful selection and documentation of short-lived, identified taxa, and development of appropriate calibration procedures with expert colleagues, we have built refined sequences for two archipelagoes that are crucial to understanding regional settlement patterns: the southern Cook Islands at the western gateway to East Polynesia, and the Marquesas Islands at the far eastern edge. Funded by multiple grants from Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Ltd. and University of Auckland.

Jennifer Huebert (PhD) – The role of arboriculture in landscape domestication and agronomic development: A case study from the Marquesas Islands, East Polynesia; University Doctoral Scholar (primary supervisor, completed 2014)